Is there anything clinically available to test the real-ear equivalent of bone anchored processors?
Answer
We have the ability to measure the output of a bone anchored processor in a skull simulator. A skull simulator used to be bulky and expensive and was mostly used by researchers in large organization.
The Interacoustics SKS skull simulator (Figure 1) works seamlessly with Interacoustics Affinity real-ear hearing aid analyzer system. It is used for the same purpose as a 2cc coupler is used for hearing aids. If the patient comes back with complaints, the first thing you want to do is test the device against specifications before you send it away for repairs. In the future, I believe we will have a real-ear measurement equivalent for bone anchored processors. This means we will be able to look at the output and also individualize each fitting to his/her unique skull and ensure gain targets are being met.
Figure 1. Interacoustics SKS skull simulator.
This Ask the Expert is taken from an edited transcript of an Oticon Medical live webinar. Read to complete article on AudiologyOnline. For more information about Oticon Medical, visit www.oticonmedical.com or the Oticon Medical Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
Ravi Sockalingam, PhD
Director of Clinical Research and Professional Relations
Dr Ravi Sockalingam is the director of clinical research and professional relations for Oticon Medical LLC. A native of Singapore, he completed his training in speech pathology and audiology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia where he also received his PhD in Audiology. As a full time faculty in audiology he had taught and undertaken research in various areas of audiology in Australia, Israel, Canada, China, New Zealand. Prior to joining Oticon Medical LLC in Dec 2010, he was the senior audiologist and manager of audiology communications at Oticon’s international headquarters in Smorum, Denmark for three years.
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